My U-boat photographic collection

[Adam S.]

An excellent focus for a collection and some fantastic photos! Well done.

[jacquesf]

Nice thread, I really enjoy following it. Jacques

[nicoo]

Small update, thanks again for your nice comments!

This lot belonged to Werner Weirich. He served on U-80, U-92 and U-256. In the first picture, U-80 is seen coming out of port, the water heavily iced. The schulboot insignia is barely visible on the conning tower. The second picture is dated December 1942. Two Wappen are visible. I think that this picture was taken in Memel while the boat was part of the 24th flotilla.





While some crewmen enjoy themselves on U-123's deck...



others remain ever vigilant on the conning tower.



U-boat crew marching out of it's barrack.



Kptl Sholtz on the afterdeck of U-108 while in port, date unknown.



Unknown VIIC.



This single photo shows RKT Paul Brasack on the right, IWO Koch on the center and on the left the IIWO. The inscription on the back says: “Auslaufen in Kiel”. This makes me think that the picture was taken on 20 July 1943 when U-737 was leaving for her first patrol.



More to come!

[amiklic1]

WOW, I am impressed with your photos, indeed.

I am collecting Uboot stuff and photos, but the level of knowledge you have about each photo is stunning.

Keep on with the collection, it has a great potential to be excellent over the years if you continue like this.

Hopefully your studying will help in everything you want to achieve, and collection increase amongst everything else.

[nicoo]

Hello amiklic1, thanks for the nice comments and the encouragement. Indeed, researching the where, when and who of each photo I buy is one of my greatest motivations. Discovering the story that each photo contains is my way to honor those men and machines who carried out such heroic deeds as the Ubootwaffe did. The german submarine force of WW2 is a theme bigger than many think, I've been reading books and participating in dedicated forums for long time now and new things are coming to light everytime. I encourage you to carry on with your collection and show us what you have so far!
It has now become very hard for me to get a single photo, prices being so high and the currency exchange here in argentina so unfavourable (1 dollar=4,3 argentine pesos) but I still try to carry on.
Greetings from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[pantherv]

Great collection of photo's Nicolas

[Spanish Freiwillige]

Just love the collection, thanks for sharing!!!!!

[nicoo]

Some more photos:

U-A coming into Lorient harbor 1941.



Crew relaxing on U-A's afterdeck.



Batiray, later renamed U-A, seen here in a floating drydock. Batiray was originally built for the turkish navy but requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine at the outbreak of hostilities.



Here's a very moving photo. It shows MaschMt Gerhard Rühl from U-232 still full of life. His boat would later become a watery grave for himself and the rest of the crew when it sunk on 8 July 1943 to the west of Oporto by a Liberator. It makes me very sad everytime I see it.



More to come...

[nicoo]

These photos were taken on U-256' commissioning ceremony on 18 December 1941.







This one is also from U-256, not sure about the identity of the Kmdt.



Crewmen from U-256 pose on the stern of the boat as it comes into port, closely followed by an escort ship.



U-256 crewman portrait.



This photo belonged to Herbert Laurisch, crewman aboard U-9. It was taken in Black Sea base and according to Axel Niestlé it shows U-9 in the background and OLzS Klaus Petersen of U 24 saluting the Flotilla Chief.



More to come!

[Bob Hartman]

This is a substantial archive of the U-boat war and I commend you for compiling it. I see the makings of a good book on the "Battle of the Atlantic" here and with your knowledge it should be a good one. Well done.

Bob

[nicoo]

Small update:

U-105 returning from patrol with flying pennants.



These photos show Schullboot U-555 in between training missions. it only served as training boat with the 24th and 21st training flotillas. Note the cap to protect the bow and torpedo doors from the drifint icefloes.







Erich Topp and the crew of U-552 celebrate the end of a succesful Feindfahrt, I still couldn't date this picture.



More to come!

[nicoo]

Here's the centerpice of my collection:
This set of photos belonged to OL.z.S Gerhard Peters who served as IIWO and IWO onboard U-410 and was later in command of U-1198.

Leutnant Peters with (probably) his mother. He was the original owner of these photos.



23 February 1942 - Danziger Werft A.G., Danzig. U-410 just prior to her commissioning ceremony. Note the temporary bow cap to protect the boat from the ice. In the background, two unfinished boats are visible beneath wooden structures that conceal them from aerial observation.



High ranking officers and yard officials attending the commissioning ceremony



The crew standing in formation on deck. On the far right is the Commander, Kapitänleutnant Kurt Sturm. First man in the row to the left of Sturm is Oberleutnant (Ing.) Friedrich Rachnerthe, the LI; behind him is IWO Alois König and at the back is IIWO Gerhard Peters. The man to the left of the LI may be Obersteuermann Fritz Ufermann.



The crew is assembled on deck moments before the start of the commissioning ceremony



The crew at parade rest, the ceremony is about to begin.



The crew and guests salute as the boat is placed in commission. Gerhard wrote on the back "Hoist flag and pennant. I stand on the left of the front row". Note the UAK symbol on the conning tower



7 August 1943 - La Spezia. Oberleutnant zur See Horst Arno Fenski addresses his crew moments before U-410 leaves for it's fifth patrol. Fenski sank two Liberty ships from Convoy UGS-14 for a total of 14,436 tons during this 24 day patrol.





While searching thorugh ubootwaffe.net I arrived at U-410 file and discovered a set of photos uploaded by Detlef Gerisch. These photos showed his father, Hans Gerisch, who served onboard said boat and later on U-385. When I checked my photos I discovered that Hans Gerisch was also in my photos! (shorterst man in line in the commissioning photos) So thanks to Hubertus from Ubootwaffe.net I got in contact with Detlef, he told me that his father was still alive and willing to communicate with me through email, you wouldn't believe my joy! So for almost five years now we've been exchanging emails and this July I'm going to meet him and Detlef when I visit them in their hometown of Angermünde (as part of my trip to visit the european battlefields). This is really the greatest satisfaction this hobby has given me.

These photos and the rest of the set were auctioned on Ebay more than five years ago, and since then I've been trying to get the photos I'm missing. If you have any or know someone who has them I'm willing to pay the price for them!

[oberst40]

Very nice collection of U-boat pics
Once you have a job, this will grow to a huge U-boat collection I guess

[all1knew]

Hello there,

I truly enjoyed looking at the photos posted here, thank you for sharing with us!

William Kramer

[Lou58]

Well done truly in-joyed viewing your'e collection of U-Boats and their crews.

Lou